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Plant Colours Omics and Biotechnological Advances

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A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 28340

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Luisa Palmieri

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Guest Editor

Food Quality and Nutrition Department, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy
Interests: plant biotechnology; genetics and genomics; plants gene expression; molecular breeding; population genetics; secondary metabolites; plant food quality

Dr. Stefan Martens

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Guest Editor

Food Quality and Nutrition Department, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy
Interests: plant biotechnology; pathway analysis; protein biochemistry; genetics; polyphenols; secondary metabolites and their biosynthesis; medicinal and aromatic plants; metabolomics; enzymology; yeast engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Pigments are responsible for many of the beautiful colors we see in the plant world. Flavonoids, carotenoids, and betalains are the three major plant pigments having important functions: In addition to attracting pollinators visitation and influencing reproductive success in flowering plants, they protect flowers and fruits from UV damage, pests, and pathogens. Furthermore, flower and fruit colors are selected as agronomic characters of interest and associated to health compound content. Horticulturists have long been interested in breeding different varieties of plants with flowers and fruits having bright colors, saturated hues, sweet taste, and high nutritional value. Finally, the secondary metabolites that are strongly influencing these traits have been shown to have health-promoting properties for humans. For these reasons, particular pigments are appreciated not only by horticulturists and breeders but the food and pharmaceutical industries as well, in order to produce food natural colorants and additives and healthcare products.

However, little is known about the regulatory pathways and genes controlling flower and fruit color in different plant species. Determining the diversity and functions of genes involved in biosynthesis of color pigments and their networking would allow a better understanding of plants’ natural adaptation to the environmental changes and create opportunities to select and design new plant varieties and new food and healthcare products. Therefore, in this Special Issue of Plants, all scientific contributions (original research papers, perspectives, hypotheses, opinions, reviews, and modeling approaches and methods) are welcome, focusing on expression analysis and function determination of genes involved in plant color biochemical pathways; on the application of derived knowledge for classical breeding and new plant breeding technologies (NPBTs); and on the application of emerging know-how at agronomical and industrial level.

Dr. Luisa Palmieri
Dr. Stefan Martens
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

flavonoids
carotenoids
betalains
plant secondary metabolites
gene expression
plant biotechnology
molecular breeding
NPBTs
food quality
additives
MAPs
human health

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 5650 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Capacity in Anthocyanin-Rich Carrots: A Comparison between the Black Carrot and the Apulian Landrace “Polignano” Carrot

by Federica Blando, Stefano Marchello, Gabriele Maiorano, Miriana Durante, Angelo Signore, Maura N. Laus, Mario Soccio and Giovanni Mita

Plants 2021, 10(3), 564; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10030564 - 17 Mar 2021

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 7827

Abstract

The carrot is one of the most cultivated vegetables in the world. Black or purple carrots contain acylated anthocyanins which are of special interest to the food industry for their stability and nutraceutical characteristics. Anthocyanin-rich fruits and vegetables have gained popularity in the last ten years, due to the health benefits they provide. In this paper, the characterizations of the bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacities of different anthocyanin-containing carrots (a black carrot—BC, and a local purple carrot, the “Polignano” carrot—PC), compared to the commercial orange carrot (OC) (lacking of anthocyanins), are reported. The anthocyanin profiles of the polyphenolic extracts of BC and PC were similar, but differences were observed at quantitative levels. The total anthocyanin content in BC was more than twice that in PC (13.84 ± 0.61 vs. 5.64 ± 0.48 mg K Eq. g⁻¹ DW). Phenolic acids (mostly chlorogenic acid) were also present at high level in anthocyanin-rich carrots compared to OC. High polyphenol content accounted also for a high reducing capacity (evaluated by Folin–Ciocalteu reagent, FCR), and antioxidant capacity (evaluated by TEAC and ORAC assays) which were the highest for BC (FCR value: 16.6 ± 1.1 mg GAE. g⁻¹ DW; TEAC: 76.6 ± 10.6 µmol TE. g⁻¹ DW; ORAC: 159.9 ± 3.3 µmol TE. g⁻¹ DW). All carrot genotypes (mostly OC) were rich in carotenoids (BC 0.14 ± 0.024; PC 0.33 ± 0.038; OC 1.29 ± 0.09 mg. g⁻¹ DW), with predominance of α and β-carotene, in OC, and lutein in BC. PC showed the highest malic acid and sugar (glucose plus fructose) content. In conclusion, while BC is remarkable for nutraceutical features, the local genotype (“Polignano” carrot) is worth considering in genetic biodiversity conservation programme. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Colours Omics and Biotechnological Advances)

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14 pages, 2100 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Understanding Alstroemeria pallida Flower Colour: Links between Phenotype, Anthocyanins and Gene Expression

by Amanda Donoso, Constanza Rivas, Alan Zamorano, Álvaro Peña, Michael Handford and Danilo Aros

Plants 2021, 10(1), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10010055 - 29 Dec 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2623

Abstract

Flower colour is mainly due to the accumulation of flavonoids, carotenoids and betalains in the petals. Of these pigments, flavonoids are responsible for a wide variety of colours ranging from pale yellow (flavones, flavonols and flavanodiols) to blue-violet (anthocyanins). This character plays a crucial ecological role by attracting and guiding pollinators. Moreover, in the ornamental plants market, colour has been consistently identified as the main feature chosen by consumers when buying flowers. Considering the importance of this character, the aim of this study was to evaluate flower colour in the native Chilean geophyte Alstroemeria pallida, by using three different approaches. Firstly, the phenotype was assessed using both a colour chart and a colourimeter, obtaining CIELab parameters. Secondly, the anthocyanin content of the pigmented tepals was evaluated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and finally, the expression of two key flavonoid genes, chalcone synthase (CHS) and anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) was analysed using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Visual evaluation of A. pallida flower colour identified 5 accessions, ranging from white (Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) N999D) to pink (RHS 68C). Moreover, this visual evaluation of the accessions correlated highly with the CIELab parameters obtained by colourimetry. An anthocyanidin corresponding to a putative 6-hydroxycyanidin was identified, which was least abundant in the white accession (RHS N999D). Although CHS was not expressed differentially between the accessions, the expression of ANS was significantly higher in the accession with pink flowers (RHS 68C). These results suggest a correlation between phenotype, anthocyanin content and ANS expression for determining flower colour of A. pallida, which could be of interest for further studies, especially those related to the breeding of this species with ornamental value. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Colours Omics and Biotechnological Advances)

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16 pages, 32122 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Purple Leaf (pl6) Mutation Regulates Leaf Color by Altering the Anthocyanin and Chlorophyll Contents in Rice

by Asadullah Khan, Sanaullah Jalil, Huan Cao, Yohannes Tsago, Mustapha Sunusi, Ziyan Chen, Chunhai Shi and Xiaoli Jin

Plants 2020, 9(11), 1477; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9111477 - 03 Nov 2020

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 3524

Abstract

The anthocyanin biosynthesis attracts strong interest due to the potential antioxidant value and as an important morphological marker. However, the underlying mechanism of anthocyanin accumulation in plant tissues is not clearly understood. Here, a rice mutant with a purple color in the leaf blade, named pl6, was developed from wild type (WT), Zhenong 41, with gamma ray treatment. By map-based cloning, the OsPL6 gene was located on the short arm of chromosome 6. The multiple mutations, such as single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at −702, −598, −450, an insertion at −119 in the promoter, three SNPs and one 6-bp deletion in the 5′-UTR region, were identified, which could upregulate the expression of OsPL6 to accumulate anthocyanin. Subsequently, the transcript level of structural genes in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway, including OsCHS, OsPAL, OsF3H and OsF3′H, was elevated significantly. Histological analysis revealed that the light attenuation feature of anthocyanin has degraded the grana and stroma thylakoids, which resulted in poor photosynthetic efficiency of purple leaves. Despite this, the photoabatement and antioxidative activity of anthocyanin have better equipped the pl6 mutant to minimize the oxidative damage. Moreover, the contents of abscisic acid (ABA) and cytokanin (CK) were elevated along with anthocyanin accumulation in the pl6 mutant. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that activation of OsPL6 could be responsible for the purple coloration in leaves by accumulating excessive anthocyanin and further reveal that anthocyanin acts as a strong antioxidant to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) and thus play an important role in tissue maintenance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Colours Omics and Biotechnological Advances)

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Review

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22 pages, 7622 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Natural Blues: Structure Meets Function in Anthocyanins

by Alan Houghton, Ingo Appelhagen and Cathie Martin

Plants 2021, 10(4), 726; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10040726 - 08 Apr 2021

Cited by 56 | Viewed by 10553

Abstract

Choices of blue food colourants are extremely limited, with only two options in the USA, synthetic blue no. 1 and no. 2, and a third available in Europe, patent blue V. The food industry is investing heavily in finding naturally derived replacements, with limited success to date. Here, we review the complex and multifold mechanisms whereby blue pigmentation by anthocyanins is achieved in nature. Our aim is to explain how structure determines the functionality of anthocyanin pigments, particularly their colour and their stability. Where possible, we describe the impact of progressive decorations on colour and stability, drawn from extensive but diverse physico-chemical studies. We also consider briefly how this understanding could be harnessed to develop blue food colourants on the basis of the understanding of how anthocyanins create blues in nature. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Colours Omics and Biotechnological Advances)

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20 pages, 1048 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Roadmap to Modulated Anthocyanin Compositions in Carrots

by Inger Bæksted Holme, Giuseppe Dionisio and Henrik Brinch-Pedersen

Plants 2021, 10(3), 472; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10030472 - 02 Mar 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2964

Abstract

Anthocyanins extracted from black carrots have received increased interest as natural colorants in recent years. The reason is mainly their high content of acylated anthocyanins that stabilizes the color and thereby increases the shelf-life of products colored with black carrot anthocyanins. Still, the main type of anthocyanins synthesized in all black carrot cultivars is cyanidin limiting their use as colorants due to the narrow color variation. Additionally, in order to be competitive against synthetic colors, a higher percentage of acylated anthocyanins and an increased anthocyanin content in black carrots are needed. However, along with the increased interest in black carrots there has also been an interest in identifying the structural and regulatory genes associated with anthocyanin biosynthesis in black carrots. Thus, huge progress in the identification of genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis has recently been achieved. Given this information it is now possible to attempt to modulate anthocyanin compositions in black carrots through genetic modifications. In this review we look into genetic modification opportunities for generating taproots of black carrots with extended color palettes, with a higher percentage of acylated anthocyanins or a higher total content of anthocyanins. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Colours Omics and Biotechnological Advances)

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